NEPO House on South Lander Street is hosting an opening reception, Time, Wasted, on December 17. The event will include a screening of Waste of Time: Capitalism, Consumption, and the Quest for Renewal, a documentary film by local filmmaker Shaun Scott, as well as photographs by Virginia Wilcox.
According to NEPO, the presentation will “explore the United States’ brief and improbable journey from pastoral expanse to industrial juggernaut to recession-prone wasteland.” Waste of Time, Shaun Scott’s second feature-length film, will tell the story of our consumer culture through a collage of vintage ads, music, and narration.
Scott’s other work includes Seat of Empire, which The Stranger described as a “strange, fascinating, messy, playful, serious, poetic, philosophical, meandering, grounded, compounded, confounding, political, and insouciant history of Seattle,” and 100% Off: A Recession-Era Romance.
Virginia Wilcox will show her own new works including photographs of people absorbed by and involved with their mobile devices, and images of bleak post-industrial landscapes in rural America.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with both artists.
The event is at NEPO House, 1723 S. Lander St., on December 17 from 6-10 p.m. Suggested donation is $5.
We know it’s summer… finally! But we need your valuable input on a potential winter fundraising idea!
Do you buy a Christmas tree during the holiday season? If so, would you be interested in buying one from El Centro de la Raza, meaning your purchase would directly support El Centro’s 30 important programs?
We’re considering selling Christmas trees this year, but we want to know if our community thinks it would be a good idea.
The folks at El Centro have posted a survey for community members to give their opinions on the Christmas tree question. Follow this link to fill it out.
Three Brothers Cleaners will close soon. Photo by Wendi.We hear that Three Brothers Cleaners, located at 3210 Beacon Avenue South, will be closing at the end of this month, and the gift shop located in the same space will close too. If you have any clothes that need to be picked up, or any gift shopping that needs to be done, better get in there soon.
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Rebuilding Together Seattle (RTS), a nonprofit organization, is currently accepting applications from homeowners in need. RTS provides free home repair services for low-income homeowners through the support of sponsors and community volunteers. To qualify for the program, homeowners must be low-income and unable to complete the work independently. RTS also assists non-profit or community organizations in need of facility repairs. For more information or to apply, see the website.
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The 2nd Annual Beacon Hill Photowalk will take place on Sunday, July 24 between 12 noon and 1:30 pm. Organizer Amanda writes, “Last year, we explored the Jefferson Park and Golf course for an hour on a lovely Saturday afternoon. This year, I want to explore the Beacon Ave commercial district, starting at Firehouse 13 (at the corner of Beacon Ave S and S Spokane), following Beacon Ave north past the library and down to the new linklight rail station! I would love to include some local businesses in our walk, so if you have a local business and would allow us to stop by, please let me know! For more info and to sign up for the walk, please follow the link.”
Last but definitely not least, Tamara Dyer, Piñata Party planner, sends this reminder:
This is just a quick reminder that the Piñata Party is this Saturday, July 17 from 12 noon – 3:00 pm.  Hope you can make it—because you are the party!!
It’s in its usual location in the center of Triangle Park (Stevens Place Park — Ed.) across from the Beacon Library on Beacon Avenue. This year we’re doing it potluck style so pack a blanket and if the spirit moves you—maybe something to share. But, no worries if you just wander over with your fabulous selves.  We’ll have piñatas, snow cones, fun drinks, snacks, a Lion Dance, traditional Oaxacan music and a performance by our much loved Lushy.
We’re excited.  Hope to see you Saturday and bring your neighbors!
A guitarist tries out the music space at ROCKiT space. Photo by Bridget Christian in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.The new ROCKiT space non-profit music and art organization on Beacon Avenue held their grand opening this weekend. Bridget Christian was there, and has posted a great set of photos from the event on Flickr. She says, “GREAT place for kids… all kinds of art stuff to do, books, instruments to mess around on.”
Jesse Vernon, of The Stranger, recently discovered the Chief Sealth Trail, which, he says, starts on Beacon Hill and then “transports you to Kubota Garden via Ireland. Or New Zealand. Or some other place with rolling green hills I’ve never been.” However, some commenters on Vernon’s post complained about the trail’s hills, and one commenter, Kinkos, suggested that the best way to ride the trail is to “take light rail to beacon hill, ride to the trailhead, then ride downhill on the trail to near the end – to the rainier beach sta. catch the train back to beacon hill, and repeat.”
Craig Thompson brings more sad news via the BAN list: Flinnor “Papa” Kimmons passed away June 9th. Mr. and Mrs. Kimmons were said to be the first African Americans to own a home on North Beacon Hill.
Walkable community advocacy organization Feet First is looking for Neighborhood Walking Ambassadors: engaged, passionate community members interested in leading walks through their neighborhoods.
Crocheting by Mandy Greer, for the project "Mater Matrix Mother and Medium", an interactive, process-based art installation. Photo by Jennifer Zwick.
Artist Mandy Greer is creating Mater Matrix Mother and Medium, a “process-based temporary public art installation” that uses recycled fabric and yarn along with the volunteer help of many hands to build the installation. You can help crochet this artwork at the Beacon Hill Library on May 24 — all skill levels welcome! Details are here.
Beacon Hill neighbor Lorraine reports on the mailing list: “I was waiting at the northbound bus stop at Beacon and Hanford (yesterday) morning
when a guy tried to grab my phone from me. I held on tight and whacked him with my coffee thermos and he ran off. Then I followed him and watched him get in his small, black pickup truck and take off.” The unsuccessful thief was white, with short brown hair and brown facial hair, about 5’9″ and 180 pounds, wearing a short-sleeved, plaid shirt with a collar and pale blue jeans. Lorraine adds, “The guy asked me a few questions and what time it was before he grabbed my phone. I had turned the phone to show him the time after he acted like he hadn’t heard me. So, lesson learned. Please be alert at those bus stops, everybody!”
It’s snowing! But it’s awfully wet snow, and the high temperature today is supposed to be 43, so it should be gone quickly. No sign so far of any school closures in this area. Some other districts are opening late, however, so keep your eyes on schoolreport.org for local school announcements.
It’s interesting that, when searching for pictures of “Beacon Hill, Seattle” online, you get a ton of pictures of the downtown skyline, from Dr. Jose Rizal Park. Frequently, our neighborhood gets defined by what it’s close to, rather than what it is. But we have to admit that the view from Rizal Park is pretty darned awesome. The view has changed over the years, of course. Here’s the view from the park, in 1986: Seattle skyline from Beacon Hill, 1986. Photo by Robert Ashworth -- thanks!
And here’s the same view, from late last month: Seattle skyline from Beacon Hill, 2008. Photo by Bridget C in the Beacon Hill Blog Flickr photo pool. Thanks, Bridget!
Back in 1986 Downtown Seattle seemed pretty built-up to me (and probably to the folks who supported the CAP growth limitation ordinance), but in comparison to the modern pic, it looks like Podunk-ville.
Yesterday was an amazing October day: the sky cloudless blue, and the air relatively warm. It was a good day for a walk around the neighborhood. I brought my camera, and here’s a little bit of what I saw: The blue sky was stunning, and the leaves in Triangle Park contrasted beautifully.Continue reading An October afternoon walk→
Hello, all. We’ve made some changes that I hope you will like.
The blog no longer requires you to register to post comments. So if you tried to comment and were discouraged by the registration requirement, please try again. Comments are moderated the first time you post, but once you’ve had a comment approved, the rest of your comments aren’t moderated, unless they have multiple URLs or other “possible spam” triggers.
We have our own photo pool now at Flickr: the Beacon Hill Blog pool. Please add your Beacon Hill-related photos to the group, and we might feature them here in the blog. (This is similar to what most of the other local blogs and publications are doing with their Flickr pools.)
Autumn leaves in Stevens Place (Triangle) Park, 2006. Photo by Wendi. The Beacon Hill, Seattle Pool on Flickr doesn’t contain a ton of photos, but those it does have are quite nice. Some of the photos of downtown and mountain views are particularly beautiful, and ought to make your friends from other neighborhoods a bit jealous. Photographers, please consider adding your photos of the Hill to the pool. I’m sure many of us would love to see them.
